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1111111111Unit People

Objectives:� Develop the ability to note down and analyze statistics.

� Develop the ability to understand the implied meaning.

� Develop the ability to listen for the gist of arguments.

Task 1

Script

Saxophonist Kenny G is now the world’s most successful jazz musician. He was born in 1956 as

Kenny Gorelick in Seattle, USA, and he learned to play the saxophone at an early age. When he was

just 15 years old, he toured Europe with his High School band. After studying at Washington Univer-

sity he started his career as a musician. In 1982 he signed for Arista Records and made his first solo

album Kenny G.

Success came slowly at first, but during the 1990s Kenny became well-known on the interna-

tional scene. He released Breathless, his most successful album so far in 1993, and in 1994 won the

Best Artist Award at the 21st American Music Awards held in Los Angeles.

As well as making records, he also found time to play in front of another famous saxophone

player—US President Bill Clinton—at the “Gala for the President” concert in Washington, and to

break the world record for playing a single note (45 minutes and 47 seconds!) at the J & R Music

World Store in New York in 1997.

During the last 20 years, Kenny G has played with superstars like Aretha Franklin, Michael

Bolton and Whitney Houston, and he has sold more than 36 million albums worldwide... and he

hasn’t sung a note!

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Key

A. Fill in the following chart.

Event Year

Kenny G was born. 1956

He toured Europe with his High School band. 1971

He made his first solo album. 1982

He released his most successful album. 1993

He won the Best Artist Award. 1994

He broke the world record for playing a single note. 1997

B. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1) After he signed for Arista records, Kenny G achieved immediate success. [ F ]

2) Kenny G has sold more than 36,000 albums throughout the world. [ F ]

3) Kenny G has never sung in public. [ T ]

Task 2

Script

Senn: Everybody always has this misconception that policewomen don’t do the same thing

as men do, you know. I’ve worked...

Interviewer: That’s not true?

Senn: That is not true! I’ve worked my share of graveyard shifts, and, you know, split shifts,

and double-backs and no days off, and...

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Senn: ... as much as the next guy. There’s no distinction used if there’s a male or female

officer on duty. Two men on duty—I’ll refer to as two men, ’cause in my field there’s

no difference between the genders. We’re still the same. Okay, if there are two men on

duty—just because one is a female, she still gets in on the same type of call. If there’s

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a bar disturbance downtown, then we go too. There’ve been many times where being

the only officer on duty—that’s it! It’s just me and whoever else is on duty in the

county. They can come to back me up if I need assistance. And it does get a little hairy.

You go in there, and you have these great big, huge monster-guys, and they are just

drunk as skunks, and can’t see three feet in front of them. And when they see you, they

see 15 people, and you know... But, still, there’s enough.

Interviewer: That’s where the uniform is important, I should imagine.

Senn: Sometimes, you know. If somebody is going to..., or has a bad day, and they are out to

get a cop, you know. It doesn’t matter if you’re, you know, boy, girl, infant or anything!

When you’ve got that cop uniform on, they’ll still take it out on you.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Senn: But I think there’s one advantage being a female police officer. And that is the fact that

most men still have a little respect, and they won’t smack you as easy as they would

one of the guys.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Senn: But I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned—I’d rather deal with ten drunk men than one

drunk woman any day of the week!

Interviewer: Well, why is that?

Senn: Because women are so unpredictable. You cannot ever predict what a woman’s going

to do.

Interviewer: Hmm.

Senn: Especially, if she’s agitated, you know.

Interviewer: Emotionally upset.

Senn: Yeah. I saw a lady one time just get mad at the guy she was with because he wouldn’t

buy her another drink—take off her high heel and lay his head wide open. Yuch! They

can be so vicious, you know.

Key

Choose the best answer.

1) According to Senn, female policemen ____________. [ ]

a) don’t do the same thing as men do b) mostly work the graveyard shifts

c) work as hard as the male policemen d) can enjoy more days off

c

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2) Which of the following is correct? [ ]

a) In the field, there’s no difference between the generations.

b) If Senn needs an assistant, other policemen can come to back her up.

c) When there is a disturbance, 15 policemen will immediately arrive.

d) Some people would vent their anger on the uniformed police officers.

3) The advantage of being a female police officer is that ____________. [ ]

a) most men have little respect for women

b) most men won’t thank you as easy as one of the guys

c) most men won’t hit you as easily as they would hit a man

d) it is easier to deal with ten drunk men than one drunk woman

Task 3

Script

You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another hard. At the

start they merely fight with their fists. But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with

chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window—and falls 30 feet to the

ground below. He is dead!

Of course he isn’t really dead. With any luck he isn’t even hurt. Why? Because the men who fall

out of high windows or jump from fast-moving trains, who crash cars or even catch fire, are

professionals. They do this for a living. These men are called “stunt men”. That is to say, they perform

“tricks”.

There are two sides to their work. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For

example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall onto hard ground but onto empty

cardboard boxes covered with a mattress. Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are

made of soft wood; and when they crash through windows, the “glass” is made of sugar!

But although their work depends on tricks of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and

training. Often a stunt man’s success depends on precise timing. For example, when he is “blown up”

in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment.

Naturally stunt men are well-paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They often get

seriously injured—and sometimes killed. A Norwegian stunt man, for example, skied over the edge of

d

c

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a precipice 1,000 feet high. His parachute failed to open—and he was killed.

In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for “men only”. Men no longer dress up as

women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action. For nowadays there are “stunt girls”

too!

Key

Choose the best answer.

1) Which of the following is NOT among the stunts by professional stunt men? [ ]

a) Falling out of high buildings. b) Jumping from fast-moving trains.

c) Crashing cars or even catching fire. d) Performing magic tricks.

2) When the stunt men fall from high above, they in fact fall onto ____________. [ ]

a) hard ground b) empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress

c) a pile of chairs made of soft wood d) glass windows made of sugar

3) Often a stunt man’s success depends on all of the following except _____________. [ ]

a) different kinds of tricks b) the audience

c) precise timing d) a high degree of skill and training

4) The case of the Norwegian stunt man proves all of the following except ____________.

[ ]

a) stunt men lead dangerous lives b) stunt men are well-paid for their work

c) stunt men often get seriously injured d) stunt men can be killed if something goes wrong

Task 4

Script

Interviewer: Tell me Rob, when did you start writing poetry?

Robert: Well, I started when I was about 14 or 15. Everybody in my house wrote. My parents

wrote short stories; my twin sister wrote poetry probably two or three years before I

did. I started, perhaps from their influence, at the age of 14 or 15.

Interviewer: How easy was it to get your first book of poems published? You’ve published four

now, haven’t you?

d

b

b

b

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Robert: Yes, that’s right. Well, the first one came out when I was about 26, if I think...

Interviewer: 26?

Robert: Yeah, it comprises poetry that I wrote when I was in my early 20s. Of course probably

everybody who starts to post away their poems to... to magazines and journals and

newspapers has got to be prepared to plaster the wall with rejection slips.

Interviewer: Mmm.

Robert: So I got a lot of my work rejected. I got told to start again, tear it up, try again, so it isn’t

easy ever, I don’t think, to get your poetry published, especially in book form. So it

took me three or four years of trying, I suppose, to do that.

Interviewer: In your early poems you write a lot about nature.

Robert: Well, I was brought up in a small village called Penyfae, in mid-Glamorgan.

Interviewer: That’s in Wales.

Robert: Yes, in Wales. And at the time that I was growing up it was a very small place. It was

quite an intimate place in that I knew everybody, and they knew me; and it was a place

which was fairly rural in its aspect, and a very small village with a lot of streams and

woods and fields around it; and it was quite easy for me after school or on holidays to

go out in the fields and the woods and to have a very quiet experience there, and to

observe the nature of those areas.

Interviewer: Is it easy to be a poet and earn a living in Britain?

Robert: Only a handful of people can earn enough to live on in Britain as poets. You’ve got to

combine your career as a poet with other work. And although you can do a fair amount

of work from poetry readings and workshops, personally I am not able to pay all the

bills by writing poetry or by reading poems, unless I’ve got other things to do.

Interviewer: What’s the British reaction to poetry?

Robert: They’re embarrassed by it, or at least the English are. They’re embarrassed by people

who reveal personal feelings, and emotions, and thoughts, and wishes, and half the

time I believe they would prefer it if they shut up.

Interviewer: And there’s a difference between the English and the Welsh in this respect?

Robert: I believe in Wales, yes there is, because you do have the tradition of... of people who

wrote in Welsh and who still do write in Welsh, and in Wales the writer was far more a

part of his own area, society as well. Yes, he didn’t stand apart from it; he was a part of

it himself.

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Key

Answer the following questions.

1) When did Robert start writing poetry?

Key: He started writing poetry when he was about 14 or 15.

2) How many books of poems has Robert published so far?

Key: He has published four books.

3) When did he get his first book of poems published? Was it easy?

Key: His first book came out when he was about 26. It wasn’t easy. He got a lot of his work

rejected at first.

4) What’s the British reaction to poetry?

Key: The British, or at least the English, are embarrassed by it. They’re embarrassed by

people who reveal personal feelings, emotions, thoughts and wishes.

Task 5

Script

Thousands of people came to American cities before Blacks and Puerto Ricans did. Between

1815 and 1914, more than 35 million Europeans crossed the ocean to find new homes in the United

States.

Most of these immigrants were ordinary people. Few were famous when they arrived. Few

became famous afterward. Most had lived in small villages. Few had ever been far outside them.

Most of them faced the same kinds of problems getting to America: the hardship of going from their

villages to a seaport, the unpleasantness—even danger—of the long ocean voyage, the strangeness of

a new land, and of a new language, the problem of finding a place to live, of finding work in a new,

strange country.

Every immigrant had his own reasons for coming to America. But nearly all shared one reason:

They hoped for a better life. They considered America a special place, a land of opportunity, a land of

freedom.

Immigrants came from many different countries: England, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Russia,

Italy, Hungary and many others.

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They came with many different religions: Roman Catholic, Jewish, Quaker, Greek Orthodox.

They brought many different customs and many languages.

Some people have called the United States a “melting pot”. After immigrants were here awhile—

in the melting pot—they became Americanized. Differences were “melted down”. They gradually

disappeared.

Some people say no. America isn’t a melting pot. It’s more like a salad bowl. Important differ-

ences between groups of people haven’t disappeared. Many groups have kept their own ways, their

customs, their identities, and this has given America great strength.

Melting pot? Salad bowl? Perhaps there’s some truth to both ideas.

In any case, life in America was hard for most immigrants—especially at first. Often they were

cheated. Often they met with prejudice. They were often laughed at, even mistreated, by people who

themselves had been immigrants.

Most of them soon found that the streets of America weren’t paved with gold. They usually got

the hardest jobs, and those that paid the least, the dirtiest places to live in, the most overcrowded

tenements.

They came to be citizens of a new country, but often they felt like people without a country.

They had given up their own, but they didn’t understand their new one. They didn’t really feel a part

of it. And the people of the new one didn’t always welcome them.

They came for the sake of their children, but in America their children often rejected them. To

the children, their parents seemed old-fashioned. They didn’t learn the new language quickly. Some

didn’t learn it at all. Their parents’ customs made children ashamed.

Gradually, however, problems were overcome. For most immigrants, life in America was better.

It certainly was better for their children, and for their grandchildren.

Key

Complete the following notes of the passage.

Between 1815 and 1914, more than 35 million Europeans crossed the ocean to find new homes

in the United States.

I. The problems the immigrants faced getting to America:

A. The hardship of going from their villages to a seaport.

B. The unpleasantness—even danger—of the long ocean voyage.

C. The strangeness of a new land and of a new language.

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D. The problem of finding a place to live and of finding work in a new, strange country.

II. The common reason for the immigrants to come to America:

They hoped for a better life. They considered America a land of opportunity and freedom.

III. Variety of background:

A. Immigrants came from many different countries: England, Germany, Denmark, Finland,

Russia, Italy, Hungary and many others.

B. They came with many different religions: Roman Catholic, Jewish, Quaker, and Greek

Orthodox.

C. They brought many different customs and languages.

IV. Melting pot or salad bowl?

A. Some people have called the United States a melting pot for the reason that after immi-

grants were here for some time, they became Americanized. Differences gradually

disappeared.

B. Some people say America is more like a salad bowl. Important differences between

groups of people haven’t disappeared. Many groups have kept their own customs and

identities.

V. The pains and sufferings of the immigrants:

A. Often they were cheated, met with prejudice, were often laughed at, even mistreated.

B. Most of them soon found that they usually got the hardest, least-paid jobs, the dirtiest

places to live in, and the most overcrowded tenements.

C. They often felt like people without a country. They didn’t really feel a part of it. And the

people of the new one didn’t always welcome them.

D. They came for the sake of their children, but in America their children often rejected

them. To the children, their parents seemed old-fashioned. Their parents’ customs made

children ashamed.

Gradually, however, problems were overcome. For most immigrants, life in America was better.

Notes

1 A Quaker is a member of a Christian group called the Society of Friends. Quakers have no priests

or organized religious ceremonies, and often spend their religious services (called “meetings”) in

silence. Quakers oppose violence and war and are active in helping people and in education.

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2 The Greek Orthodox Church is the main group of Christian churches in East Europe and Asia,

which was formed in the 11th century by separating from the Catholic Church. The Russian

Orthodox Church, the main Christian group in Russia, is closely related. The Orthodox Church is

known for its very complicated religious ceremonies in which the words are mostly sung rather

than spoken.

Task 6

Script

When Thomas Edison was born in the small town of Milan, Ohio, in 1847, America was just

beginning its great industrial development. In his lifetime of 84 years, Edison shared in the excite-

ment of America’s growth into a modern nation. The time in which he lived was an age of invention,

filled with human and scientific adventures, and Edison became the hero of that age.

As a boy, Edison was not a good student. His parents took him out of school and his mother

taught him at home, where his great curiosity and desire to experiment often got him into trouble.

When he was six, he set fire to his father’s barn “to see what would happen”. The barn burned down.

When he was ten, Edison built his own chemistry laboratory. He sold sandwiches and newspa-

pers on the local trains in order to earn money to buy supplies for his laboratory. His parents became

accustomed, more or less, to his experiments and the explosions which sometimes shook the house.

Edison’s work as a sales boy with the railroad introduced him to the telegraph and, with a friend,

he built his own telegraph set. He taught himself the Morse telegraphic code and hoped for the chance

to become a professional telegraph operator. A stroke of luck and Edison’s quick thinking soon pro-

vided the opportunity.

One day, as young Edison stood waiting for a train to arrive, he saw the station master’s son

wander into the track of an approaching train. Edison rushed out and carried the boy to safety. The

thankful station master offered to teach Edison railway telegraphy. Afterwards, in 1863, he became

an expert telegraph operator and left home to work in various cities.

Six years later, in 1869, Edison arrived in New York City, poor and in debt. He went to work

with a telegraph company. It was here that he became interested in the uses of electricity. At that time

electricity was still in the experimental stages, and Edison hoped to invent new ways to use it for the

benefit of people. As he once said: “My philosophy of life is work. I want to bring out the secrets of

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nature and apply them for the happiness of man. I know of no better service to render for the short

time we are in this world.”

The same year, when he was only 22 years old, Edison invented an improved ticker-tape ma-

chine which could better report the prices on the New York Market. The ticker-tape machine was

successful, and Edison decided to leave his job and concentrate wholly on inventing. When the presi-

dent of the telegraph company asked how much they owed him for his invention, Edison was ready to

accept only $3,000. Cautiously he said: “Suppose you make me an offer.”

“How would $40,000 strike you?” the president inquired. Edison almost fainted, but he finally

replied that the price was fair.

With this money, and now calling himself an electrical engineer, Edison formed his own “inven-

tion factory” in Newark, New Jersey. Over the next few years he invented and produced many new

items, including the mimeograph machine, wax wrapping paper, and improvements of the telegraph.

In 1877 Edison decided he could no longer continue both manufacturing and inventing. He sold

his share in the factory and built a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first labora-

tory of its kind devoted to organized industrial research. One of the first inventions to come from his

new laboratory was an improvement of Alexander Bell’s telephone. Edison invented a more powerful

mouthpiece which removed the need to shout into the telephone. But his great inventions were still to

come.

On August 12, 1877, Edison began experimenting with an instrument which he had designed

and ordered to be built. It was a cylinder, wrapped in tinfoil and turned by a handle. As it revolved, a

needle made a groove in the foil. Turning the handle, Edison began to shout.

“Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece was white as snow!”

He stopped and moved the needle back in the starting position. Then, putting his ear close to the

needle, he turned the handle again. A voice came out of the machine:

“Mary had a little lamb,

Whose fleece was white as snow!”

Edison had just invented the phonograph, a completely new concept: a talking machine.

While he was perfecting his phonograph, Edison also worked on another invention. He called it

“an Electric Lamp for Giving Light by Incandescence”. Today we call it the light bulb.

For years other inventors had experimented with electric lights, but none of the lights had proven

economical to produce. Edison, in studying the problem, spent over a year experimenting. He tested

1,600 materials (even hairs from a friend’s beard) to see if they would carry electric current and glow.

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Finally, on October 21, 1879, he tried passing electricity through a carbonized cotton thread in a

vacuum glass bulb. In his own words Edison described the experiment: “... before nightfall the carbon

was completed and inserted in the lamp. The bulb was exhausted of air and sealed, the current turned

on, and the sight we had so long desired to see met our eyes.” The lamp gave off a feeble, reddish

glow, and it continued to burn for 40 hours. Edison’s incredible invention proved that electric lighting

would be the future light of the world.

Edison was now so famous as an inventor that people thought there was nothing he could not do.

They began to call him “the wizard”, as if he could produce an invention like magic. Few people

realized how hard Edison worked, often 20 hours a day, and that most of his inventions were the

results of hundreds of experiments.

For 60 years Edison was the world’s leading inventor. He patented over 1,000 inventions which

changed our way of living. He was one of the earliest inventors of the motion-picture machine. His

invention of the phonograph was joined with photography to produce talking pictures. He also per-

fected the electric motor which made streetcars and electric trains possible.

It is no wonder that Edison received many honors during his life for contributions to the progress

of mankind. The United States gave him its highest award, a special Congressional Medal of Honor.

Yet, in spite of all his fame, Edison remained a modest man. He preferred to continue his work, rather

than rest on his achievements. His motto was: “I find what the world needs; then I go ahead and try to

invent it.” He never considered himself a brilliant man and once remarked that genius was “2 percent

inspiration and 98 percent perspiration”.

When Edison died in 1931, it was proposed that the American people turn off all power in their

homes, streets, and factories for several minutes in honor of this great man. Of course, it was quickly

realized that such an honor would be impossible. Its impossibility was indeed the real tribute to

Edison’s achievements. Electric power had become so important and vital a part of America’s life that

a complete shut-down for even a few seconds would have created chaos. As “one of the great heroes

of invention’’, Edison rightfully belongs among America’s and the world’s great contributors to the

progress of man.

Key

A. Complete the following notes.

The Life Story of Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was born in the small town of Ohio in 1847, when America was just beginning

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its great industrial development. When he died in 1931, Edison shared in the excitement of

America’s growth into a modern nation.

I. Beginning Years:

A. As a boy, Edison was not a good student. His great curiosity and desire to experiment

often got him in trouble.

B. In 1857, he built his own chemistry laboratory. Because he saved the life of the station

master’s son, Edison had the chance to learn railway telegraphy.

C. In 1863, he became an expert telegraph operator and left home to work in various cities.

II. Expanding Years:

A. In 1869, Edison arrived in New York City. It was here that he became interested in the

uses of electricity. The same year, Edison invented an improved ticker-tape machine

which could better report the prices on the New York Market.

B. With the money from the telegraph company, Edison formed his own “invention factory”

in Newark, New Jersey, where he invented and produced many new items over the next

few years.

C. In 1877, Edison built a new laboratory devoted to organized industrial research.

D. In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph.

E. In 1879, Edison invented the light bulb.

III. The World’s Leading Inventor:

A. He patented over 1,000 inventions which changed our way of living.

B. He was one of the earliest inventors of the motion-picture machine.

C. His invention of the phonograph was joined with photography to produce talking pictures.

D. He also perfected the electric motor which made streetcars and electric trains possible.

IV. Honors:

A. The United States gave him its highest award, a special Congressional Medal of Honor.

B. When Edison died, it was proposed that the American people turn off all power for sev-

eral minutes in honor of this great man.

C. As “one of the great heroes of invention’’, Edison rightfully belongs among America’s

and the world’s great contributors to the progress of man.

B. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1) When Edison decided to leave the telegraph company, he asked for $40,000 for his invention

of the ticker-tape machine. [ F ]

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2) One of the first inventions of Edison was an improvement of Alexander Bell’s telephone.

[ F ]

3) The phonograph, or talking machine, was a completely new concept. [ T ]

4) Many other inventors had experimented with electric lights before Edison. [ T ]

5) People called Edison “the wizard”, for he could work magic. [ F ]

Notes

1 Morse code is a system of sending messages in which each letter of the alphabet is represented by

a set of dots (short sounds) and dashes (long sounds). Morse code was named after Samuel Morse

who invented it in the US in 1844. It was once an important means of international communication,

but now it is no longer used much.

2 Alexander Bell (1847—1922) is a Scottish scientist and inventor who lived in the US, best known

for inventing the telephone in 1876. He also started the Bell Telephone Company.

Task 7

Script

Paul Neal Adair was born in Houston, Texas in 1915. He was one of five sons of a metal worker.

He also had three sisters. While growing up, he became known as Red Adair because his hair was

bright red. The color became a trademark for Adair. He wore red clothes and red boots. He drove a red

car, and his crew members used red trucks and red equipment.

During World War II, Adair served on a trained army team that removed and destroyed bombs.

After the war, he returned to Houston and took a job with Myron Kinley. At the time, Kinley was the

leader in putting out fires in oil wells. Red Adair worked with Myron Kinley for 14 years. But in 1959,

Adair started his own company.

During his 36 years in business, Red Adair and his crews battled more than 2,000 fires all over

the world. Some were on land. Others were on ocean oil-drilling structures. Some fires were in burn-

ing oil wells. Others were in natural gas wells.

Red Adair was a leader in a specialized and extremely dangerous profession. Putting out oil well

fires can be difficult. This is because oil well fires are extinguished, or put out, at the wellhead just

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above ground. Normally, explosives are used to stop the fire from burning. The explosion robs the fire

of oxygen. But, once the fire is out, the well still needs to be covered, or capped, to stop the flow of

oil. This is the most dangerous part of the process. Any new heat or fire could cause the leaking well

and the surrounding area to explode.

Red Adair developed modern methods to extinguish and cover burning oil wells. They became

known in the industry as Wild Well Control techniques. In addition to explosives, the techniques

involved large amounts of water and dirt. Adair also developed special equipment made of bronze

metal to help extinguish oil well fires. The modern tools and his Wild Well Control techniques earned

Red Adair and his crews the honor of being called the “best in the business”.

Red Adair was known for not being afraid. He was also known for his calm and sense of safety.

None of his workers were ever killed while putting out oil well or gas fires. He described his work this

way: “It scares you—all the noise, the rattling, the shaking. But the look on everyone’s face, when

you are finished and packing, it is the best smile in the world; and there is nobody hurt, and the well

is under control.”

One of Red Adair’s most important projects was in 1962. He and his crew put out a natural gas

fire in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. The fire had been burning for 6 months. This famous fire was

called the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter”. Fire from the natural gas well shot about 140 meters into the

air. The fire was so big that American astronaut John Glenn could see it from space as he orbited

Earth. The desert sand around the well had melted into glass from the extreme heat. News reports

said Adair used about 340 kilograms of nitroglycerine explosive material to pull the oxygen out of

the fire.

Adair’s success with the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter” and earlier well fires captured the imagina-

tion of the American film industry. In 1968, Hollywood made an action film Hellfighters. It was

loosely based on events in Red Adair’s life. Actor John Wayne played an oil well firefighter from

Houston, Texas whose life was similar to Adair’s. Adair served as an advisor to Wayne while the film

was being made. The two men became close friends. Adair said one of the best honors in the world

was to have John Wayne play him in a movie.

In 1988, Adair fought what was possibly the world’s worst off-shore accident. It was at the Piper

Alpha drilling structure in the North Sea. Occidental Petroleum operated the structure off the coast of

Scotland. The structure produced oil and gas from 24 wells.

167 men were killed when the structure exploded after a gas leak. Red Adair had to stop the fires

and cap the wells. He faced winds blowing more than 120 kilometers an hour, and ocean waves at

least 20 meters high.

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c

a

d

c

In March of 1991, Red Adair went to Kuwait following the Persian Gulf War. He and his crews

were called in to help put out fires set by the Iraqi army.

The Red Adair Company capped more than 100 wells. His crews were among 27 teams from 16

countries called in to fight the fires. The crews’ efforts put out about 700 Kuwaiti fires. Their efforts

saved millions of barrels of oil. Some experts say the operation also helped prevent an environmental

tragedy. The job had been expected to take 3 to 5 years. However, it was completed in just 8 months.

Red Adair had spent his 76th birthday in Kuwait working side by side with his crew. When

asked when he might retire, he told reporters: “Retire? I do not know what that word means. As long

as a man is able to work, and he is productive out there and he feels good—keep at it.”

Still, Red Adair finally did retire in 1994. At that time, he joked about where he would end up

when he died. He said he hoped to be in Heaven. But he said this about Hell: “I have made a deal with

the devil. He said he is going to give me an air-conditioned place when I go down there—if I go

there—so I won’t put all the fires out.”

Red Adair died in 2004. He was 89 years old. At his funeral, many family members and friends

honored him by wearing red clothes. Many Americans remember Red Adair for his bravery. He lived

his life on the edge of danger. He was known for his willingness to risk his own life to save others.

Key

A. Choose the best answer.

1) Adair had ____________ brothers and sisters in his family. [ ]

a) three b) five c) seven d) eight

2) Red Adair worked with Myron Kinley for ____________ years. [ ]

a) 14 b) 59 c) 36 d) more than 20

3) The Wild Well Control techniques of Red Adair involved all of the following except

____________. [ ]

a) explosives b) large amounts of water

c) large amounts of dirt d) bronze metal

4) The “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter” ____________. [ ]

a) was a natural gas fire in the Sahara Desert in Algeria in 1932

b) had been burning for 16 months

c) was so great that it could even be seen from space

d) was so hot that it even pulled the oxygen out of the air

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5) Which of the following is NOT correct? [ ]

a) In 1988, possibly the world’s worst off-shore accident took place off the coast of Scotland.

b) The drilling structure produced oil and gas from 24 wells.

c) 157 men were killed when the structure exploded after a gas leak.

d) Red Adair faced winds blowing more than 120 kilometers an hour, and ocean waves at

least 20 meters high.

6) Which of the following is correct? [ ]

a) The Red Adair Company capped more than 100 wells in Kuwait.

b) 27 teams from 16 countries went to Kuwait to fight 700 fires.

c) The crews’ efforts cannot prevent the environmental tragedy.

d) The job had been expected to take 8 months.

B. Answer the following questions.

1) Why can explosives be used to stop the fire from burning?

Key: That’s because the explosion robs the fire of oxygen.

2) What is the most dangerous part of the process to put out oil well fires? Why?

Key: Once the fire is out, the well still needs to be covered, or capped, to stop the flow of

oil. This is the most dangerous part of the process, because any new heat or fire could

cause the leaking well and the surrounding area to explode.

3) When and why did Red Adair go to Kuwait?

Key: In March of 1991, Red Adair went to Kuwait. He and his crews were called in to help

put out oil well fires.

4) How did Red Adair spend his 76th birthday?

Key: He had spent his 76th birthday in Kuwait working side by side with his crew.

5) How was Red Adair remembered at his funeral?

Key: At his funeral, many family members and friends honored him by wearing red clothes.

Notes

1 John Glenn (1921— ) is the first US astronaut to make a journey in space in 1962. In 1974 he

became a member of the US Senate for the Democratic Party, representing the state of Ohio. In

1998, he again went into space, becoming the oldest man to do so.

c

a

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2 John Wayne (1907—1979) is a US film actor who was known especially for appearing in Westerns,

such as Stagecoach (1939) and True Grit (1969). The characters he played were usually brave,

strong, honest men who loved their country, and he is thought of as representing typical American

values.

Task 8

Script

Eleanor Roosevelt was the wife of America’s 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She

helped her husband in many ways during his long political life. She also became one of the most

influential people in America. She fought for equal rights for all people—workers, women, poor

people, black people. And she sought peace among nations.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City in 1884. Eleanor’s family had great wealth

and influence, but Eleanor did not have a happy childhood. When she was eight years old, her mother

died. Two years later, her father died. It was Eleanor’s grandmother who raised the Roosevelt children.

After she finished school, Eleanor began teaching children to read in one of the poorest areas of

New York City, called “Hell’s Kitchen”. She investigated factories where workers were said to be

badly treated. She saw little children of four and five years old working until they dropped to the

floor. She became involved with other women who shared the same ideas about improving social

conditions.

Franklin Roosevelt began visiting Eleanor. Franklin belonged to another part of the Roosevelt

family. Franklin and Eleanor were married in 1905. In the next 11 years, they had six children.

Franklin Roosevelt began his life in politics in New York. He was elected to be a state legislator.

Later, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to be assistant secretary of the Navy. The Roosevelts

moved to Washington in 1913. It was there, after 13 years of marriage, that Eleanor Roosevelt went

through one of the hardest periods of her life. She discovered that her husband had fallen in love with

another woman. She wanted to end the marriage, but her husband urged her to remain his wife.

She did. Yet her relationship with her husband changed. She decided she would no longer play

the part of a politician’s wife. Instead, she began to build a life with interests of her own.

Eleanor Roosevelt learned about politics and became involved in issues and groups that inter-

ested her. In 1922, she became part of the Women’s Trade Union League. She also joined the debate

19

about ways to stop war. In those years after World War I, she argued that America must be involved in

the world to prevent another war. “Peace is the question of the hour,” she once told a group of women.

“Women must work for peace to keep from losing their loved ones.”

The question of war and peace was forgotten as the United States entered a severe economic

depression in 1929. Prices suddenly dropped on the New York stock market. Banks lost their money.

People lost their jobs.

Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932. He promised to end the Depression and put

Americans back to work. Mrs. Roosevelt helped her husband by spreading information about his new

economic program called the New Deal. She traveled around the country giving speeches and visiting

areas that needed economic aid.

Eleanor Roosevelt was different from the wives of earlier presidents. She was the first to become

active in political and social issues. While her husband was president, Eleanor Roosevelt held more

than 300 news conferences for female reporters. She wrote a daily newspaper commentary. She wrote

for many magazines. These activities helped spread her ideas to all Americans and showed that women

had important things to say.

One issue Eleanor Roosevelt became involved in was equal rights for black Americans. She met

publicly with black leaders to hear their problems. Few American politicians did this during the 1930s

and 1940s. One incident involving Eleanor Roosevelt became international news.

In 1939, an American singer, Marian Anderson, planned a performance at Constitution Hall in

Washington. But a conservative women’s group refused to permit her to sing there because she was

black.

Eleanor Roosevelt was a member of that organization, the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She publicly resigned her membership to protest the action of the group. An opinion study showed

that most Americans thought she was right.

Eleanor Roosevelt helped the performance to be held outdoors, around the Lincoln Memorial.

More than 70,000 people heard Marian Anderson sing. Eleanor Roosevelt was always considered one

of the strongest supporters of the civil rights movement.

The United States was forced to enter World War II when Japanese forces attacked the American

naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941.

Eleanor Roosevelt made many speeches over the radio praising the soldiers she saw on her

travels. She called on people to urge their government to work for peace after the war was over.

Franklin Roosevelt died in 1945, soon after he was elected to a fourth term as president.

When his wife heard the news she said, “I am more sorry for the people of this country than I am

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for myself.”

Harry Truman became president after Franklin Roosevelt died. World War II ended a few months

later. The leaders of the world recognized the need for peace. So they joined together to form the

United Nations. President Truman appointed Mrs. Roosevelt as a delegate to the first meeting of the

UN.

Eleanor Roosevelt spent the last years of her life visiting foreign countries. She became America’s

unofficial ambassador. She returned home troubled by what she saw. She recognized that the needs of

the developing world were great. She called on Americans to help the people in developing countries.

Eleanor Roosevelt gave the best she had all through her life. People around the world recognized

their loss when she died in 1962.

Key

A. Answer the following questions.

1) When and where was Eleanor Roosevelt born?

Key: She was born in New York City in 1884.

2) What did Eleanor do after she finished school?

Key: After she finished school, Eleanor began teaching children to read in one of the poor-

est areas of New York City. She investigated factories where workers were said to be

badly treated. She became involved with other women who shared the same ideas

about improving social conditions.

3) How did her relationship with her husband change after Eleanor discovered her husband’s

extramarital affair?

Key: She decided she would no longer play the part of a politician’s wife. Instead, she

began to build a life with interests of her own.

4) When was Franklin Roosevelt elected president? What was the name of his new economic

program?

Key: Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932. His new economic program was

called the New Deal.

5) In what way was Eleanor different from the wives of earlier presidents?

Key: She was different from the wives of earlier presidents in that she was the first to

become active in political and social issues.

6) What did Eleanor do to protest the action of the Daughters of the American Revolution?

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Key: She publicly resigned her membership to protest the action of the group.

7) How did Eleanor spend the last years of her life?

Key: She spent the last years of her life visiting foreign countries. She became America’s

unofficial ambassador. She called on Americans to help the people in developing

countries.

B. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1) Because Eleanor’s family had great wealth and influence, she enjoyed a happy childhood.

[ F ]

2) In 1922, Eleanor took part in the Women’s Trade Union League. [ T ]

3) The Daughters of the American Revolution was a conservative women’s group. [ T ]

Notes

1 New Deal is a program of economic and social changes that was introduced in the US by Presi-

dent Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, in order to help people who had lost their jobs or their prop-

erty as a result of the Great Depression. It included money for farmers to borrow and an important

program of public works.

2 The Great Depression is the severe economic problems that followed the Wall Street crash of

1929. In the early 1930s, many banks and businesses failed, and millions of people lost their jobs

in the US, the UK and the rest of Europe.

3 Marian Anderson (1897—1993) was the first African American to be named a permanent mem-

ber of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as well as the first to perform at the White House.

Anderson first sang in Philadelphia church choirs, then studied with Giuseppe Boghetti. She be-

gan her concert career in 1924 and achieved her first great successes in Europe. Her rich, wide-

ranged voice was superbly suited to opera, lieder, and the spirituals that she included in her con-

certs and recordings. In 1939, when the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to

allow her to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her

DAR membership in protest and sponsored Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955

Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera. She was appointed an alternate delegate

to the United Nations in 1958 and in 1963 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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4 Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a colonial patriotic society in the United States,

open to women having one or more ancestors who aided the cause of the Revolution. The society

was organized (1890) at Washington, D.C., and has its national headquarters at Memorial Conti-

nental Hall there. The society has done much for the preservation and marking of historic places.

In politics, the DAR has been criticized for its conservative policies. There is a similar but unre-

lated organization known as the Daughters of the Revolution.

5 Lincoln Memorial is a marble building in Washington, D.C., which has a large statue of Abraham

Lincoln. The building, designed by Henry Bacon and styled after a Greek temple, has 36 Doric

columns representing the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. There is a picture of

the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the US one-cent coin.

Task 9

Script

1) One day Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of America’s greatest thinkers and philosophers, was visited

by a local farmer, who saw a book by Plato in Emerson’s library and asked to borrow it. When the

farmer returned the book, Emerson asked him how he liked it. The farmer replied, “I liked it. This

Plato has a lot of my ideas.”

2) During an 18-month period in his early 20s, Sir Isaac Newton invented theories of gravity, light,

and color, as well as calculus. At age 85, shortly before his death, he wrote, “I do not know what I

may appear to the world, but to myself I have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and

diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell, whilst the great

ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”